CTR Program Deactivated 48 Warheads in December

The U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program deactivated 48 strategic nuclear warheads last month in the former Soviet Union, bringing the total number of disarmed warheads to 7,260, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11).

The nonproliferation program, which aims to eliminate or secure former Soviet unconventional weapons, in December also eliminated eight ICBM silos and four submarine-launched ballistic missiles and provided security improvements to four nuclear weapons storage sites.

Along with warhead deactivation, the Nunn-Lugar program since its inception in 1991 has eliminated 671 ICBMs, 496 ICBM silos, 119 mobile ICBM launchers, 622 SLBMs, 456 SLBM launchers, 155 bombers, 906 nuclear air-to-surface missiles, 194 nuclear test tunnels and 30 nuclear submarines capable of firing ballistic missiles.

The program has also provided security for 374 nuclear weapon rail shipments, implemented new security measures at 16 nuclear weapon storage facilities and provided equipment for 12 biological agent monitoring stations.

Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan — once respectively the world’s third, fourth and eighth-largest nuclear weapons powers — have all been completely denuclearized under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

International Science and Technology Centers have involved 58,000 former weapons researchers in peaceful civilian work (U.S. Senator Richard Lugar release, Jan. 22).

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